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Just a Coincidence?

Published by Rob Skiba June 29, 2014 at 9:47 PM

So, I was just thinking… or should I say, wondering: Is it just a coincidence that the last prophetic writer of the Old Testament and the last apostolic writer of the New Testament were telling us the same thing?

Malachi 3:

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 

7a From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 

Malachi 3:

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name

17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 

18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

Malachi 4:

4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 

2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 

3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 

6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

1 John 2:

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sinBut if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him

but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1 John 3:

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 

5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor

is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 4:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 5:

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 

For THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 

Reading the final writings of both the Prophet Malachi (O.T.) and the Apostle John (N.T.), it is quite clear that YHWH does not change, nor does His “love language”. If you need a little more help with that, consider checking out my blog, God’s Love Langauge.

Still, people often read my wall posts concerning obedience to the Law of God and they ASSUME I’m being legalistic and wonder, “Where’s the love?” First of all, LOL! No. I am not being legalistic. I can NOT stand legalism! Theologically defined as:

Legalism, in Christian theology, is a usually pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigor, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit. Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God’s grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption. On the Biblical viewpoint that redemption is not earned by works, but that obedient faith is required to enter and remain in the redeemed state.

It is NOT about salvation! Indeed, it never was. Israel was saved FIRST, then they received the “Law” as a guideline for living holy, set-apart, sanctified and healthy lives, thus displaying LOVE for YHWH and their fellow man.

Second, I LOVE, preach and am forever grateful for GRACE!

Ephesians 2:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

I need it just as much as the next guy (maybe even more). I just don’t see them as being mutually exclusive. I see them as ALWAYS having worked together and always will. I am only saying the same thing guys like Malachi and John said. In that sense, I guess I’m in good company. But I am NOT acting, thinking, saying or doing what the Pharisees taught and demanded. Rather indeed, it is out of LOVE that these posts are being made here on Facebook… and in fact, defined by the Scriptures.

The problem is, I really don’t think those who accuse others of not being loving truly know how the Bible actually defines love – especially when it comes to loving God. Yeshua distilled ALL of the Law down to two statements: Love God. Love people. But what does that mean? Well, the last apostolic writer went out of his way to define it all for us in 1 John 2 – 5! If you really want to know where I stand and what I believe, read those Scriptures. I do not deviate in any way from what the “beloved disciple” believed, taught and preached, which is what Yeshua preached, all the prophets and of course Moses too.

Our “beloved brother Paul” also defined “love” for us in great detail…

1 Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

So, if love does not rejoice in “wrongdoing” (i.e. doing that which YHWH said NOT to do) and it does rejoice in the “truth” which is clearly presented from Genesis to Revelation, then Paul is also in 100% agreement with everyone else in the Bible concerning the definition of love! See also my blog, Paul Taught Against Transgression of the Law (a.k.a. sin).

Getting back to my original thought: The last author of the Old Testament and the last author of the New Testament are telling us that loving God, means keeping His commandments… right to the very end of the story (as “love never ends”):

Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

There in Revelation 14, John is essentially stating the same thing Solomon said:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Is this all just a big, fat, incredible set of coincidences – that they are ALL saying the same thing? I don’t think so. Perhaps we should start listening to the authors of Scripture instead of modern “theologians” who are trying to teach us that we no longer need to obey God and that the commandments have allegedly been “abolished.”

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/10449915_10152594812772754_6909056318042311242_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=879b866dde510e62f9346c4879f93c54&oe=5CE6213F

If a line were drawn in the sand, which side of it would you be standing on? YHWH’s side (along with the authors of His Scriptures) or on the side of the antinomian (lawLESS) theologians?

While FAR from perfect and most thankful for Romans 8:1, I’m gonna stand on YHWH’s side. How about you?

– Rob Skiba

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